Thermal enhanced oil recovery methods are used to recover bitumen and heavy oil from hydrocarbon reservoirs. Petroleum reservoirs contain solid matrix, oil and water and all thermal recovery processes used for heavy oil recovery employ heat to raise the temperature of the oils to reduce their viscosity. In the process, all of the materials present in the reservoir must be heated in order to achieve heating of the oil. In the present disclosure, the water present in the formation is used as the primary heat transfer medium, supplemented with a minimal amount of injected fluid. The most dominant of the thermal recovery methods is steam-assisted gravity drainage (“SAGD”). SAGD operations are impaired by energy losses and hydraulic pressure losses suffered by fluids being conducted through the injection and production wells. As well, SAGD operations are particularly susceptible to fluid incursions from active water zones, which may disrupt the SAGD process. The SAGD process also suffers from high capital and operating costs making SAGD project economics marginal and susceptible to changes in commodity price. SAGD involves the use of large amounts of water and consumes significant quantities of fuel for steam generation causing large carbon dioxide emissions.